Seattle Mariners Closer Identified By ESPN as One of 10 Players Opening Eyes in Spring
Seattle Mariners closer Andres Munoz was identified on Wednesday as one of the 10 players around baseball that are drawing rave reviews from scouts and evaluators this spring.
Munoz was already an All-Star, but evidently, he's gaining some more traction on the national front during this camp.
As if the guy with a 100 mph fastball and one of the best sliders in baseball needed another weapon, Muñoz is now throwing a kick changeup, in which he spikes his middle finger on the seam to kick the spin axis sideways and promote late movement. The result is a special sort of nastiness that set Mariners camp abuzz this spring.
10 players MLB scouts are buzzing about... These potential breakout stars are drawing rave reviews early in spring training.https://t.co/rme0vlqcxL
— Buster Olney (@Buster_ESPN) March 5, 2025
Munoz's changeup is all the rage in spring training and he broke it out on Wednesday night in his appearance against the Kansas City Royals in Cactus League play. He surrendered just one hit in one inning, striking out two.
Some people get blessed with a 100 mph arm, others get blessed with a nasty kick-changeup.
— Pitch Profiler (@pitchprofiler) March 6, 2025
Andrés Muñoz got both. pic.twitter.com/YhYggwDzn5
Munoz went 3-7 in 2024, but he posted a solid 2.12 ERA at the back-end of the M's bullpen. He struck out 77 batters in 59.1 innings and was downright wicked at T-Mobile Park, which we just learned is the most extreme ballpark in baseball.
A 26-year-old native of Mexico, Munoz is 10-20 lifetime with a 2.65 ERA. He is a five-year veteran of the Mariners and San Diego Padres, having been acquired by the M's in a trade with San Diego back in 2020.
He became the Mariners closer in 2023 after the team traded Paul Sewald to the Arizona Diamondbacks.
The Mariners will participate in split-squad action on Thursday and will open the regular season on March 27 against the Athletics.
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